My Dream Job is What I’m Doing Now

April 6, 2012 | By Rosetta |

This morning, I came aross a job listing on my Twitter feed that was an amazing fit for my skills, education and experience. Plus, it was with a very reputable nonprofit organization with smart, influential people that I’d get to work with on innovative projects. For a moment, I thought about applying. I already know the person I’d be reporting to, and about half of the staff in general. I was excited to see this particular position because it’s rare to see a role that could tempt me out of self-employment. I’ve had more than a few headhunters contact me for executive-level jobs, but it’s hard to put a price on freedom, baby.

As one of my colleagues said to me when I first decided to start working for myself, “you’s a free negro now.” And I love being a free negro. There’s nothing like it. I’m typing up this blog post in my pajamas because I don’t feel like getting dressed yet and I don’t have to.

But like I said yesterday, overall – for me – entrepreneurship is not sexy. I love getting paid to do what I love and be who I am. I love being able to travel when I feel like it and live wherever I want. I love having the opportunity to make an impact on the world in my own way. Those are the best parts of being self-employed.

But I’d be lying if I played like everything is all sunshine and roses. Without a “stable” stream of income from a legitimate source, it’s not as easy to obtain things like apartments/homes, health insurance, loans, etc. And if you’re a solopreneur like me, you’ve not only got to figure out how to get clients and customers, but you’re also the default finance department. Even if you hate dealing with finances. Plus, even for an introvert, it can get lonely as hell working from home by yourself without any real, in-person co-workers to talk to. Having a full-time job would help out with all of that, for sure.

That’s why sometimes, when a great job opportunity comes my way, I start to wonder – is this a sign for me to go back to working for someone else? Part of me feels that as long as I get to use my unique gifts and talents, it would be all good.

But the other part of me – the free negro part – asks, do I really want to give up my autonomy? The photo in this post is the view from my hotel room at the Loews Miami when I was there several weeks ago. An organization called me at the last minute to fly out to be on a conference panel and I was so happy I could just up and go without checking in with anyone first.

So that’s when I realize that for now, my dream job is not out there. After two years of working for myself, I’m still not ready to trade in my pajama-wearing, blog post-writing, cross country-traveling, keynote-speaking, hotel-staying, workshop-teaching, book-selling, social media-training, career-coaching self for a 9 to 5.

Nope, not even for a six-figure gig.

My dream job is what I’m doing right now.

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About Rosetta

Rosetta Thurman is a nationally-recognized author, speaker, mentor and coach dedicated to helping women create their ideal lives. She is the creator of 31 Days to Reset Your Life: A Practical Guide to Personal Transformation and the founder of HappyBlackWoman.com, a supportive community for women all over the world. Learn more about Rosetta here.

Comments & Feedback:

This is such an interesting topic and one I’ve been thinking about a lot lately! I’ve been doing a lot of freelancing in addition to my 9-5 work and as exhausting as it is to manage both, I haven’t been able to cut ties from the security of a prompt paycheck and healthcare benefits! So I’ve decided to compromise. In the fall (only a few months from now – yikes!) i will be cutting back on my living expense – moving to a cheaper apartment, finding a roommate, cutting back on things like cable tv and eating out – so that I can afford to only work half time at my office job and dedicate half of my working week to working on my own venture. Super exciting, super scary, but at this point in my life, I’d rather have more time (to do what I love and pursue my passion) than money!

Is there a bigger dream waiting for you to dream it? What are your options for addressing those specific problems that do not please you? i.e. Merging with others is an opportunity for amplifying your promotion, eliminating unfavorable tasks, and taking on the things you enjoy most- plus this addresses your social aspect as well. What king of networking options, options to make applications smoother, etc. are available to you? Find your ideal again, and then you can begin to satisfy it- just like you did with this intial “impossible dream” of self employment. You’re only limited by what you believe is limiting you. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Marc Allen or not, but he’s running a few companies right now, is in millionaire or more status, and his work week is more “lax” than just about anyone. His solution was to dream a dream of a lazy millionaire; believe in it, and then the options became clear.

Your blog posts have always inspired me. As a stay at home mom and college student, starting a business is the only way I can acquire a source of income. So, I am out-sourcing a contract manufacturer to make naturally flavored candies from recipes that I developed. Thank you very much for letting me know that I can do it!

This is extremely powerful! I handed in my two weeks notice on Monday and as much as I have enjoyed the financial security, networking opportunities and an extremely supportive supervisor, I can’t help but feel like I’m leaving my pretend job to do my real job. I continue to get all kinds of affirmations that now is the time for me to step out and focus on my urban planning consulting firm full time. Thanks for this!

You are preaching to the choir! I type my comment in the comfort of my chair in front of the tv lol (I took today off)

Keep up the good work!

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